Coming Apart

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

Mark 6:31


Our Creator must have had some insight as to what we would do with his world, that we would be running and doing, always on the move, never stopping to slow down. It is for this very reason he created the Sabbath, a time “to make” us slow down. Those of us who try to do it, unfortunately, end up adding it as one more thing to our to-do list or schedule.

We turn vacations into work-ations. We try hard to rest. We always have some kind of list with tasks on it, and we never get to the end of that list because we keep putting new things on as we cross old ones off.  

Not too long ago, I tried to take a one day retreat. It was one of the harder things I have done. I found myself scheduling the time full of what I would do. As I looked down the list of things to do during my retreat, I realized that it was simply one more to-do list!

Christ has been telling me to take some time to talk and listen. I usually do the talking part very well. It is the listening section my Savior wants me to work on. I am fine about mentioning everything on my prayer list, even the prayer requests others have given me. It is the stillness following the talking, when God begins to have his say, which I usually skipped over.

So, I turned off the phone (That was probably the day I missed your call), took Ozzie, my dog, grabbed a book, and headed to Waxahachie Creek Park. Because the park is going through some improvements and upgrades there was no one there, no one at all.

Let me say, there is nothing like a dog to make you take a Sabbath. They have no agenda. They keep no calendar. They do not care about your calendar, what is on it, how tight your schedule is, or how far behind you are on your "To-Do" list. Dog are experts at "just being." They are transparent with their own feelings and can see right through the façade you try to put up to disguise your own. They are the ultimate go-with-the-flow animal. God sent Ozzie with me to bless me and slow me down.

That slowing down wasn't easy. In fact, the first part of my time, I wondered what I was missing being disconnected from media. The second part of my time, I saw what I had been missing while I was connected to all that technology.

Don’t mistake me; I still think technology is a wonderful thing. I still have my phone. I still have a tablet. I can’t say that the time had any tremendous spiritual revelations. I saw no miracles, other than the miracle of refreshment to a busy soul. It is so easy to just keep pushing, to add one more thing to the list, just one more.

Your Sabbath need have no agenda. Don’t worry; the world will still be here tomorrow. It is today that Christ looks on you, sees your exhaustion, and says, Come with me, by yourself, and get some rest.

Pastor Craig